The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a suspension damper test apparatus and systems and methods for controlling a suspension damper test apparatus and, more particularly, to a suspension damper test apparatus for characterizing the properties of suspension dampers.
One common application of suspension dampers is to attenuate vibration in a vehicle body and suspension. The thorough understanding of the behavior and characterizations of a suspension damper in a suspension system allows for robust and reliable designs. One characteristic of a suspension damper that may be useful for modeling an application is the friction of actuating a suspension damper. The friction characteristics of a suspension damper may affect the performance and/or the durability of the suspension damper.
One method known in the art of characterizing the friction of a suspension damper includes a test apparatus that secures the ends of the suspension damper and actuates the suspension damper between an extended position and a compressed position. One or more loads are applied to a side of the suspension damper while the suspension damper is actuated. The side loads are perpendicular to an axis of actuation. The response forces of the suspension damper are recorded and a friction value is calculated.
There are several significant drawbacks to the conventional methods and apparatus. First, the side force from the application of the side load does not exist in a realistic configuration of a vehicle suspension system using suspension dampers. This results in a test set-up that is not replicating the actual configuration of a suspension damper in a suspension system. Second, the test apparatus set-up and applied side loads cause excessive artificial deflection of the suspension damper, which can negatively affect the repeatability of the measurements.
A suspension damper test apparatus and a control system for a suspension damper test apparatus configured to provide accurate and repeatable results that replicate the actual configuration of a suspension damper in a suspension system is desirable.